Amsterdam Gay Pride

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Gay Pride Amsterdam 2005

The Amsterdam Gay Pride (AGP) is a barred annually on the first weekend of August Festival in downtown Amsterdam for homosexuals , bisexuals , lesbians , transgender and transsexual (short: LGBT ) with a variety of events. The highlight of the AGP is the carnival-like parade of the imaginatively costumed or scantily clad participants in brightly decorated boats through the canals of Amsterdam: the Canal Parade . Next to the Koningsdag the AGP is the largest festival event in Amsterdam, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

The idea of ​​organizing gay games arose in Amsterdam as early as the early 1990s . The then Gay Games board (Bestuur) contacted the GBA to organize a messenger parade (later: Canal Parade ). The Gay Business Amsterdam Foundation (GBA) was founded in September 1995 with the aim of promoting cultural life in Amsterdam together with other organizations and the catering industry and contributing to the emancipation of homosexuals in the Netherlands .

The AGP is similar to the Berlin Pride Festival (also called “ Berlin Christopher Street Day ”) and the “Gay Pride Parade in Rio de Janeiro” (with one million visitors in 2010). Like the AGP, the “Gay Pride Parade in Rio de Janeiro” is a non-profit organization. Originally, the AGP festival lacked any protest character, which is more common at other gay pride events such as Roze Zaterdag (in the Netherlands and the Flemish part of Belgium). In the meantime, however, political positions are also being taken during the AGP and rioting against homosexuals is being accused. In addition, there was a much more commercial orientation than in the beginning, but this was again limited by the meanwhile changed conditions of participation.

story

The owner of the names Amsterdam Pride and Canal Parade is the GBA and legally protected by the “Benelux Merkenburo”. In 1996 the first Canal Parade was held under the name Amsterdam Pride .

Amsterdam Gay Pride / Gay Games 1998

A few weeks before the first Canal Parade , the organizers of the events had great concerns about the way the festival was going. There were only a few registrations and there were strong doubts as to whether enough spectators would come. Despite these concerns, the parade continued. One of the organizers drove ahead of the parade himself and reported to his colleagues at the starting point with astonishment that the bridges were full of people, which was initially perceived as a “bad joke” (flauwe grap) . This made the first boat parade a success after all. More than 45 boats and small boats took part.

From 1996 to 2005 the GBA was the main organizer of Amsterdam Pride . From 2006 the non-profit foundation ProGay took over the organization of the AGP. The municipality of Amsterdam extended the opening times for restaurants, as there had been no problematic incidents or violent riots during the festivities. Music could be played in the street until midnight and drinks could be served until 1am, also on the street. The final assessment by the police was: “The GBA is a professional organization with which it is easy to work together and which adheres to all agreements”. Since 2014 the "Stichting Amsterdam Gay Pride" has taken over the license for the Amsterdam Gay Pride and also held the license to hold EuroPride 2016.

Amsterdam Gay Pride is characterized by a multitude of activities, the final highlight of which is the Canal Parade . It usually starts at Westerdok and continues through Prinsengracht , Amstel , Zwanenburgwal, Oudeschans and Oosterdok. The name Amsterdam Gay Pride is the official name of the events. The name Gay Pride Amsterdam is also often used in press releases and internet information. Since the Canal Parade had partly assumed commercial proportions, it was decided to calculate the participation fees separately. Homosexual groups and organizations paid 100 euros , boats from commercial companies (since 2006, for example, banks or political parties) had to pay up to 4,500 euros. Advertising on the boats was restricted, AGP activities had to be “LGBT” -oriented in order to be included in the program. From 1998 the AGP was organized together with the Gay Games .

chronology

Amsterdam Gay Pride / Gay Games 1998

1995: The Gay Business Amsterdam Foundation was established.

1996: The first Canal Parade took place on August 3rd. From 1996 to 2005 the GBA received a total (converted) of 101,600 euros in subsidies from the municipality and partly from individual city ​​districts .

1997: For organizational reasons, no Canal Parade took place in 1997.

1998: This year the Canal Pride (later: Canal Parade ) was organized together with the Gay Games . Around 100 boats took part, including two boats from discotheques and a boat with employees from the “Academisch Ziekenhuis Utrecht” (Academic Hospital Utrecht) and the GG&GD (“Gemeentelijke Geneeskundige en Gezondheidsdienst”, German: Municipal Health Office).

1999: According to estimates by the police, it was no longer just tens of thousands who lined the canals and streets during the AGB, but over 100,000 spectators. More women took part in the festivities than in previous years.

2000: Due to noise pollution, the Milieudienst (Office for Environmental Protection) announced stricter controls. The organization Amsterdam Pride was of the opinion that the community requirements were too strict and that only a "silent boat trip" (silent daughter) would be possible. Around 200,000 people showed their solidarity with the Canal Parade . The amount of visitors caused some traffic disruption in the city center.

2001: The Gay Pride got a multicultural character. For the first time, boats from the Arab homocafe Habib Ana and from the Jewish community Beit Ha'Chidush came along. On the boat of the stand-up comedians Chick with Dicks , a minaret was used to protest against the testimony of an imam from Rotterdam who had called homosexuality a "disease".

2002: The Canal Parade received increasing international media attention. A Red Cross boat took part and called for more tolerance for people with HIV or AIDS . Volunteers handed out free condoms.

2003: Around 300,000 visitors came to the parade. Perhaps because the GBA to "more nudity" (sea bloot) had called the participants on the boats, in protest against the increasing philistinism and prudery (Vertrutting and Preutsheid) of the Amsterdam city council.

2004: The organizers of Gay Pride made themselves due to rising community charges (for permits and city cleaning) worry about the future of the parade. They felt that the cost was too high and ultimately unaffordable. The organizer De Haan protested by saying that more nudity and less virtue should be shown. (“Uit protest roept hij iederen opnieuw op tot meer bloot en ondeugendere boten”). The police commented on this with the words: "Here and there spicy, but not vulgar". The number of viewers had risen to around 400,000.

2005: Delayed community permits and problems with funding led to problems. GBA had to hire an additional 600 people for security precautions and 500 first aiders because of possible terrorist activities. The first boat presented a large photo of two Iranian youths who had been executed for their homosexuality.

2006: Attention was drawn to the boats of political parties: GroenLinks and Democrats 66 . For the first time, boats from Shell , TNT and ABN-AMRO Bank took part under the motto Personal Pride - Company Pride . This year the official name "We Are - Amsterdam Gay Pride" was coined. The number of visitors had dropped to 250,000. The GBA had given back the parade approval for the parade in 2006, as there were again delays in various approvals and the financing of the terms and conditions. The ProGay Foundation took over the organization of Amsterdam Gay Pride.

Gay Pride Amsterdam 2009

2007: For the first time there was a boat with homosexual young people under the age of 16, sometimes accompanied by their parents, and a boat with heterosexual participants. The municipality of Amsterdam had a new logo developed: “We Are Proud” (We are proud) in order to distinguish itself as a tolerant city. ProGay also adopted the phrase for their future activities.

2008: On August 2nd, Former Mayor Job Cohen , Minister Ronald Plasterk and several uniformed police officers took part in the parade. Over 500,000 spectators and party goers had come. The ING -Bank, as well as TNT Express acted as sponsor.

2009: 80 boats took part in the 14th Canal Parade , starting with a boat from the municipality of Amsterdam. The number of permanent guests was estimated at 56,000. The parties CDA , VVD and military personnel in uniform took part. In order to bring the boroughs closer to the Canal Parade , the boat tour started this year in Slotervaart . On the first bridge that the boats passed, the anti-homo slogan was written: "Homo's gaan naar de hell" (homos go to hell) .

2010: With around 300 different activities, Gay Pride was the most extensive festival of its kind to date. An African Pride boat took part for the first time. The Gay Pride Sports Day took place on August 6th and an open-air cinema with films about African Pride and Euro Pride took place on the Nieuwmarkt . With CumShots the first was Lesbian Porn Festival held in the Netherlands. 175 organizations and groups had registered, 80 boats took part in the parade, including a boat from the organization COC with homosexual youths up to 18 years and the union FNV .

2011: The theme of the Canalparade this year was All together now . 80 boats took part, which were divided into three categories: LBGT participants, Gay Horeca (restaurants with a predominantly homosexual audience) and commercial (banks, companies, etc.) boats. The parade was opened by former American Lieutenant Dan Choi. He had been dismissed for his homosexuality and was a guest of honor on the boat of the Ministry of Defense (Ministerie van Defensie) . It was the first time that a boat from the Hindustan gay community went on board . The University of Amsterdam (UvA) also participated for the first time with the topic: “A Very Gay Education”. ProGay chairman Fv Dalen announced that around 380,000 people attended the Canalparade. This year's boat parade included: the (since the beginning of 2016 insolvent) department store Vroom & Dreesmann (V&D), Gay Palace Rotterdam, employees of PROUDmagazine, Eden City Hotels Amsterdam, De Nederlandsche Bank , Stiftung Aids Fonds, Loveland Events BV , Nederlandse Spoorwegen , Thai Foundation, Amsterdam Municipality, Amsterdam-Amstelland Fire Brigade and many others. The organization COC started a protest for teaching about homosexuality and transsexuality in all schools.

2012: For the first time there was a boat with Turkish homosexuals (Elance Foundation) . Other participants included the Amsterdam Municipality, Rotterdam Boot Foundation, Almere Municipality , Ministry of Defense, YouTube and Google , Aids Fund, Drag Queens United, University Pride. The theme of this year's event was On the Move . ProGay and the homosexual organization COC had invited the Ajax football club to participate with a boat. However, the Amsterdam club refused. In 2012 the boats drove from Westerdok through Prinsengracht , Amstel , Oudeschans and Oosterdok.

2013: During this year's parade, a boat from the Dutch Ministry of Defense went along, as it did in 2011, but this time with the Minister of Defense . The boat of the Royal Netherlands Football Association , on which a group of well-known former football players rode , also attracted a lot of media attention . It is estimated that the Canalparade attracted around 300,000 visitors, roughly the same as last year.

Crowds on the Prinsengracht during the Canal Parade 2015
The "Kingdom" boat during the 2014 parade

2014: The 19th parade on August 2, 2014 again attracted around 300,000 visitors. This year the police focused their attention on pickpockets. However, no significant incidents were reported. The Canal Parade was brought forward three quarters of an hour to avoid an expected storm. During the course of the train it began to rain heavily, but the actual storm did not occur. The parade of 80 boats was led by the boat of the Dutch AIDS organization Aids Fonds, which commemorated its employees who had died more than two weeks ago in the accident on Malaysia Airlines flight 17 . The festive ships followed at some distance, led by the boat of the municipality of Amsterdam with a dancing mayor ( Eberhard van der Laan ) on the forecastle.

This year there were also some premieres, such as B. the Moroccan and the American boat. There was also a Jewish boat there again. The Moroccan boat drew attention to breaking the taboo of homosexuality among Moroccans. The US boat brought the recognition of same-sex partnerships in the United States into focus. The Academisch Medisch Centrum from Amsterdam drove with a so-called "donor boat". It is part of an advertising campaign by the hospital to find more donors for their ever-scarce egg cells. In addition, there were again many boats from various organizations that should turn their attention to the sponsoring companies. Two winners of the Eurovision Song Contest were also there: Dana International from Israel and Conchita Wurst from Austria .

2015: For the twentieth Canal Parade, the focus was on the situation of homosexuals among refugees and homeless people. As well as the gay situation in the overseas territories of the Netherlands . It was also the first time an "empty" boat, provided by telecommunications provider KPN along with a 360-degree camera , took part. With this camera and the direct transmission, people could also "sail along" in the parade via the Internet. The number of visitors this year was particularly high and was estimated to be over 560,000.

The clipper Stad Amsterdam during the Canalparade 2016

2016: This year, after 22 years, EuroPride was once again a guest in Amsterdam. The Roze Zaterdag falls on July 23rd this year. Two weeks later, on August 6th, the Canal Parade took place. During these two weeks, many events took place as part of the Amsterdam Gay Pride. A boat commemorated the victims of an attack in Orlando last June.

As in the previous year, the parade attracted around 560,000 visitors. Among the 80 vessels were many well-known names from business, activist circles and politics.

The route was modified a little this year to also pass the magnificent Klipper Stad Amsterdam , which was anchored at the Maritime Museum this year . There were rumors beforehand that King Willem-Alexander would also attend the boat parade, but it turned out that he was at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Due to the EuroPride taking place at the same time and the expected number of visitors, as well as the annoyance caused by the noise for several days, residents of the old town filed several appeals and complaints with the mayor, albeit in vain.

2017: The boats went in the opposite direction for the first time this year, following clockwise. The parade also started an hour earlier than before at 1:00 p.m. The parade started in Oosterdok near the Het Scheepvaartmuseum. The route led over the Westerdok, the Amstel and the Prinsengracht ; 23 bridges were passed.

This year there were 118 registrations for this parade, but only 80 participants were selected to take part. There was room for a few thousand celebrating people on the ships. However, the discussion about the proportion of 'ideal boats' to 'commercial boats' flared up again. However, there are (for the time being) still far more watercraft on the train that convey an ideal message, for example on equality or safer sex, than boats that are on the course by various companies with their advertising, but also with their gay and lesbian employees sent. In addition, the companies assume the costs and thus ensure that their LBGT workforce is clearly supported .

The following boats were particularly conspicuous: A boat for the prevention of suicide ( 113Online Foundation ), the boat of Scouting Nederland , an Iranian boat that is reminiscent of the LGBT situation in Iran , but stranded due to an organizational problem (the captain left the boat) , a Moroccan boat (Pink Marrakech) and the boat of Dolly Bellefleur & friends, a well-known Amsterdam travesty group .

2018 Also this year 80 boats drove with a variety of different themes. The 2018 motto was "Heroes". Some of the eye-catching new boats were: The ship of the Gemeente Amsterdam , with the recently sworn in mayor Femke Halsema (her predecessor Eberhard van der Laan died unexpectedly in October last year), the national rowing association Koninklijke Nederlandsche Roeibond , which is also the only one of the 76 Dutch sports federations was who was allowed to ride, a boat of the homosexual association COC Nederland , dedicated to the Dutch campaign for multi-parent households ("meeroudergezinnen", which would correspond to co-parenting with several adults in Germany ), the Iranian boat with many refugees - it was allowed to compensate for that early retirement last year, 'Roze in Rood': the fire brigade's boat and 'Roze in Wit': a 'doctor's boat' with doctors. Various boats from the 'roze sport clubs' were also represented.

Banner with slogans on the topic of "Remember the past, create the future" at Pride Amsterdam 2019

2019 : The motto this year was Remember the past, create the future, which should remember the Stonewall uprisings that broke out in New York 50 years ago and marked a turning point in the history of the LBGT movement. This year the security requirements were increased again. Due to the large number of people on the water, especially in the Prinsengracht , only boats were allowed into the canals of the Paradeweg if they had permission to do so (marked with the “Pride Vignet”). Loud music, which drowns out the general noise level of the boat parade, was also banned. The parking of cars along the quay walls was banned in order to create more space for the spectators. However, some sections of the quay were cordoned off with fences, as it was feared that accidents would occur due to the large number of spectators and the poor condition of some of the canal barriers. Also this year hundreds of thousands of spectators saw the eighty participating boats and the boat parade went without incident. As in previous years, the parade was broadcast live by broadcasters AVROTROS and NPO 1 .

2020 : This year the festival and the parade did not take place. The reason was the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic , a viral disease, the spread of which was to be countered by official prohibition of major events of any kind.

Framework events

As part of the terms and conditions, events of various homosexual groups and clubs such as sports and street festivals take place every year in the first week of August (the festival activities listed refer to the years 2005 to 2011).

Street parties were held in the Reguliersdwarsstraat, a street with mainly gay bars, cafes and restaurants, as well as in the Utrechtse and Paardenstraat, as well as on Westermarkt, Amstelveld, Zeedijk, on the Amstel and on Rembrandtplein . An international street party took place in Amsterdam-West and the Caribbean street party in Amsterdam-Oost . The coffeeshop Betty Too organized the LesBian Pride under the name Drag King Betty Contest .

There were sporting events of various homosexual clubs in the Westerpark , where a tournament with seven teams from the gay and lesbo volleyball association took place. The Amsterdam Lowlander Gay Rugby Club and Smash Amsterdam , the youngest gay volleyball association, also presented themselves in the Westerpark. The GaySwim swimming association celebrated its anniversary in the Marnixbad . A program with hikes and a "motor route" was offered especially for women.

Cultural activities were offered in particular by religious associations. A special Pink Shabbat was held in the Uilenburg synagogue in honor of Gay Pride by the Jewish community of Beit Ha'Chidush . In the Keizersgracht the "Protestantse Kerk" (Evangelical Church, PKA) and the "Christelijke Homoorganisatie" (Christian Homoorganisatie) organized a Gay Pride celebration . The opinion of the PKA was: “… he said:“… to be delighted that many homos and lesbians are active in the church, as predikant, bestuurder en kerklid ” Pastor, ruler and church member ”). With Pink Ladys on Stage , the Internationaal Homo / Lesbian Informatiecentrum en Archief (IHLIA) brought music, lectures and film screenings to the Amsterdam Public Library (Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam), among other things. The performances ended with LesBian Pride Chill Out . The IHLIA is the largest archive, information and documentation center and library for LGBT people in the Netherlands and Europe. The singers involved included Gerard Joling , Patricia Pay, Astrid Akse, Shary-An Nivillac as well as the women's group Samba Bumba and the disk jockeys Bo Monde, Helene Lepage, Misstrezz, Nudi and Sunrise .

Police initiative for homosexuality

In 2008, police officers in uniform had already ridden on a boat in the Canal Parade . On August 22nd, 2008 the foundation “Landelijke Homonetwerk Politie” ( supra-regional homo network of the police , LHP) with the name Roze in Blauw (“pink in blue”; “pink” stands for homosexuality, “blue” for the uniforms of the Dutch) was founded Police). The LHP is the contact for all homosexual employees of the "Roze in Blauw" police. Every two years a national study day takes place, among other things with the aim of making homosexuality "recognizable" within the police organization, as well as to support the Euro Gay Police Association (EGPA) and participation in homo organizations and groups.

Awards

In the USA , the “Amsterdam Gay Pride” (AGP) 2008 was named “Best Gay Pride” in Europe. In autumn 2008 the AGP won the “Welcom Award” for “Most Hospitable Event” in Amsterdam. In 2010 the AGP received the award for the “best city promotion event” in the category “best city promotion event”. In 2016 the AGP took place under the title "EuroPride 2016".

further reading

  • Rob Tielman: Homo sexuality in the Netherlands: study van een emancipatiebeweging . (On the history of the homosexual movement in the Netherlands since 1911). Uitgeverij boom. Meppel 1982. ISBN 90-6009-403-4 .
  • Laurens Buijs, Jan Willem Duyvendak, Gert Hekma: Als ze maar van me afblijven. Een onderzoek naar antihomoseksueel geweld in Amsterdam. ("An investigation into anti-homosexual violence in Amsterdam"). University Press, Amsterdam 2008. ISBN 90-8964-086-X . At Google Books. Page 15 . (Dutch)
  • Michael Boulogne, Aart Bode: Gaypride Amsterdam . Uitgeverij Boulogne Images, 2010. ISBN 978-94-9052-301-5

Web links

Commons : Amsterdam Gay Pride  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Big, international, political, prominent, cultural: Berlin Pride Festival . Retrieved September 1, 2011.
  2. ↑ Gay Pride Parade Rio de Janeiro (English), accessed on September 1, 2011.
  3. ^ A b Organization "Amsterdam Pride" . Dutch, accessed March 21, 2017.
  4. ↑ a b c We Are Proud, Historie ( Memento from March 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). Dutch, accessed August 10, 2010.
  5. ↑ History of the Canal Parade . Dutch, accessed March 21, 2017.
  6. ↑ 25 Years on pride.amsterdam (English)
  7. ^ Siep de Haan ( Memento of March 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ). Dutch, on Gaysite.nl, accessed March 21, 2017.
  8. ↑ a b c d e quotation ( Memento from October 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ "Progay": official organizer of Amsterdam Gay Pride ( Memento of 14 August 2010 at the Internet Archive ). Dutch, accessed August 10, 2010.
  10. ↑ See on this: Jan Willem Duyvendak, Laurens Buijs: Als ze maar van me afblijven . Quotation: “The messenger parade van de Gay Pride in 2008 was een van de best zochte ooit: volgens de organisatie stonden niet less dan een half million peopleen lang de grachten.” P. 15
  11. ↑ NU.nl Antihomotekst bij Canal Parade . Dutch, at nu.nl, accessed on March 21, 2017.
  12. ↑ Porn festival for women , in: Het Parool, July 18, 2010. Dutch, accessed August 11, 2010.
  13. ↑ Information from the “COC” about participation in the “Canal Parade” .
  14. ↑ Verklaring UvA: Pride voor de Amsterdam Gay Pride 2011 ( Memento from May 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). Dutch
  15. ↑ Door Kyra Bals: V&D voor laatste keer open. (No longer available online.) In : starkbij.nl. March 22, 2016, archived from the original on April 1, 2016 ; Retrieved April 1, 2016 .
  16. ↑ DNB press release: Regenboogvlag op dak DNB tijdens Canal Parade ( De Nederlandsche Bank took part in the Canal Parade for the third time.) Dutch, accessed on August 12, 2011.
  17. ^ Press report of the NS from July 29, 2011 . About participating in the Canal Parade , under: "Amsterdam Gay Pride: NS zet extra treinen en boot in". Dutch, accessed August 12, 2011.
  18. ↑ Author: Marije Willems . In NCR Handelsblad, August 6, 2011. Dutch, accessed May 1, 2013
  19. ^ Protest by the organization COC . Dutch, accessed March 21, 2017.
  20. ↑ Ajax refuses to participate in the Canal Parade . Dutch, accessed August 12, 2012
  21. ↑ 'Selection' of well-known KNVB footballers during Gay Pride De Volkskrant, August 1, 2013 (Dutch)
  22. ↑ Bendes zakkenrollers slaan toe tijdens Gay Pride , Het Parool, August 5, 2013 (Dutch)
  23. ↑ Feest en herhaben bij Gay Pride , www.nos.nl; 2nd August 2014.
  24. ↑ Paraplu's en feeststemming op Amsterdam Gay Pride , www.ad.nl; 2nd August 2014.
  25. ↑ List of participating organizations and persons 2014 ( Memento from August 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  26. ↑ EuroPride 2016 Amsterdam (English)
  27. ↑ www.pride.amsterdam.nl
  28. ↑ Canal Parade 2016 University of Münster, August 9, 2016 retrieved March 21, 2017
  29. ↑ Half a million visitors see the Canal Parade , www.parool.nl; August 6, 2016 (Dutch)
  30. ↑ List of participating boats 2016 PDF, 290 kB.
  31. ↑ Nu.nl: King Willem-Alexander niet aanwezig bij Canal Parade , July 21, 2016
  32. ↑ Citizens' Complaints 2016 July 21, 2016 (Dutch)
  33. ↑ Zelfmoordpreventieboot wants to make suicidality among LGBT people accessible, wws.nos.nl; 4th August 2017
  34. ↑ Canal Parade in Amsterdamse in full swing, wws.nos.nl; 5th August 2017
  35. ↑ Dit was de Canal Parade , www.parool.nl; 5th August 2017
  36. ↑ The complete list of participating boats in 2018 can be found in the Dutch Wikipedia article
  37. ↑ Amsterdam Pride 2020 canceled , information on the official website, accessed on August 3, 2020
  38. ↑ Information about street festivals . Dutch, accessed August 12, 2010.
  39. ↑ Smash Gaysport ( Memento of 8 May 2012 at the Internet Archive ).
  40. ^ Joodse boot vaart mee op Gay Pride . Dutch, accessed March 24, 2013
  41. ↑ Author: EJ Tillema of July 30, 2010. Interkerkelijke Omroep Nederland (IKON) ( Memento of December 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Quoted from: “kerknieuws, nl”. (Dutch)
  42. ↑ Documentation Center IHLIA . Dutch / English, accessed March 21, 2017
  43. ^ "Roze in Blauw", Landelijk Homonetwerk Politie ( Memento from March 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ). Dutch, accessed March 21, 2017.